Bodybuilding While Cutting Diet

Bodybuilding While Cutting Diet

Bodybuilders hate the cutting stage of training because it means eating less to shed body fat while also engaging in high-intensity cardio workouts.

Unfortunately, you cannot avoid that level of stress if you truly intend to pursue a successful bodybuilding cutting diet.

You have probably heard people say that abs are made in the kitchen, and they are not wrong. Your diet has a greater impact on the health and physical status of your body than any training you do.

In fact, all the training in the world won’t do you any good if you haven’t taken the time to create a proper dieting plan.

Fortunately, bodybuilding cutting diets are not that difficult to formulate.

Bodybuilding Cutting Diets: What you need to know?

A successful bodybuilding cutting diet has four primary aspects that you should endeavor to understand before you attempt to shed your excess fat and tone your body:

1). Calorie Deficit

If you want to shed fat, you need to create a calorie deficit in your body. What does that mean? Create a situation where you are using more calories than you consume. The body normally turns the food you eat into energy which it uses to execute basic operations.

The first part of an effective bodybuilding cutting diet is to eat less food than you normally do. This is without changing your daily routine. The idea is to force your body to take its own fat and turn it into energy.

You could rely on supplements to boost your body’s metabolism. But it is just as effective to cut back on the number of calories you consume.

2). Essential Nutrients

You won’t shed fat and gain muscle by merely eating less. By cutting back on your meals, you are also cutting back on all those essential nutrients you used to get from your favorite foods and which your body will start to miss.

That doesn’t mean you should give up on achieving an effective calorie deficiency. It just means you have to compensate accordingly. Determine what nutrients, fatty acids, minerals, and vitamins you need to stay healthy and either incorporate them into your restricted meals or invest in supplements.

3). Protein

Once you achieve the necessary calorie deficit in your body whilst also meeting your body’s essential nutritional requirements, your body will start to break down the protein in your tissues in its efforts to generate energy.

You do not want that. Your body needs protein; not just your organs but your muscles as well. And if you want to avoid muscle breakdown as your body feeds on itself, you must substantially multiply your protein intake.

Again, if finding the necessary protein-rich foods proves too difficult, you can always invest in supplements.

4). Gym

What do bodybuilding cutting diets have to do with the gym? That question keeps emerging in circles of people who believe that a few weeks of fasting and nutritional dieting is all they need to craft a 6-pack.

The right diet will help you shed excess fat and lose weight but it will not tone and chisel your body. When you begin to restrict your diet and once the full effects of the calorie deficit set in, your endurance will wane.

You might even feel weaker. However, you are encouraged to maintain your regular exercise routine regardless.

Obviously, you shouldn’t push yourself too hard, but it is a mistake to drastically cut back on your workouts just because your diet is starting to take its toll. For the best results, try to focus on short brutal training sessions instead of longer intensive workouts.

You will burn fat faster even as you chisel your body.

Bodybuilding Cutting Diets: The Food

There are three primary food groups with which you should concern yourself when pursuing a bodybuilding cutting diet:

1). Sugars

You need to prioritize foods that are low on the glycemic index. Foods with a high GI are typically stored as fat, especially if you consume too much of them and fail to work out. Low GI foods release glucose very quickly and are likely to give you the energy boost you need to exercise.

Now, you will find that there are a variety of foods under the low GI’ category each with its own pros and cons. The idea here isn’t to tell you which foods to eat or not eat but, rather, to give you a starting point.

If your knowledge of nutrition is limited and you do not know how to go about formulating the right diet, begin here.

2). Fats

Fats always get a bad rap. But it truth there is such a thing as good and bad fats. However, when it comes to bodybuilding cutting diets, you need to cut down on any and all fats, good or bad. You are better off looking to carbs for energy. Bring your intake of good fats down to 20% or less and you should be fine.

3). Carbs

Carbohydrates are an essential component of every bodybuilder’s diet. You need to prioritize complex carbohydrates that not only release energy slower but also decrease the chance for fat storage.

Notable examples include oatmeal, yams, and sweet potatoes.

Carbohydrates are best consumed at times when you expect to be the most active, such as before and after an intense workout where your body really needs the energy.

Consume your carbs in moderation. Remember that you are trying to create a calorie deficit.

Of course one shouldn’t forget about their cheat meals. Most of you know by now why cutting diets are so difficult. The moment you begin to restrict your meals for the sake of achieving a calorie deficit, intense cravings kick in.

Those intense cravings have been the downfall of so many would-be bodybuilders. But you do not have to let them beat you down.

Take one day out of every week where you give into those cravings and eat whatever you want. That is a cheat meal. It will boost your morale and help you overcome the mental rigors of dieting.

Conclusion

Do not get swept away by fads. There are plenty of detail-oriented bodybuilding cutting diet eBooks and programs on the internet, and one assumes they are being marketed and sold as products because they work.

However, try to remember that every person’s body is unique and just because a particular cutting diet worked for someone else doesn’t mean it will work for you.

Focus on understanding the principles. And then find a bodybuilding cutting diet that specifically works for you.

About Us

We love fitness! Our goal is to empower the world to eat the right foods and exercise. While our goals our massive, we believe we can achieve them with time and science. Make sure to join us on our way to creating a healthy planet.